Circumstantially
by valbino
Summary: ItaSaku. Sakura decided to follow Sasuke, who went after Naruto, who was with Jiraiya, who was searching for Tsunade, whom they needed to heal Kakashi, who was incapacitated by Itachi. AU. DISCONTINUED.
1. Prologue

AN: Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm lame. No need to tell me that.(This particular idea spawned from the fact that for an ENTIRE TWO STORY ARCS, SAKURA AND KAKASHI WERE COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN ABOUT.)

On a side note, I've been reading WAYYYYYY too much ItaSaku.

* * *

The moment she was certain the one and only Uchiha Sasuke wouldn't realize until it's too late that he was being followed, Haruno Sakura took off, using what Kakashi had taught the entire group about chakra control and stealth technique to hopefully delay her presence being discovered.

There was no way in Hell that she would be left behind on this one.

From what she had gathered, Sasuke got wind of Itachi battling Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai. And that Itachi was searching for Naruto. Then got the idea to go off to warn Naruto, who was with Jiraiya. Of course, all this info came second-handedly through the sadly unintelligent jounin that accidentally, in his excitement, forgot that Sasuke was in Kakashi's apartment waiting for an explanation.

And now, Haruno Sakura waited as he entered a hotel, then exited, then entered, then exited, until he didn't exit. That would be her cue to enter the hotel he didn't exit, so as to be certain that she wouldn't be wasting energy.

Her chance arrived.

After roughly ten minutes—she thought, perhaps her estimations were correct—and Sasuke did not exit the hotel, that chance was taken. Sasuke wasn't in the immediate vicinity, so she asked the receptionist about a boy several centimetres taller than her with spikey hair and wearing a black jumpsuit.

The receptionist rattled out a room number and how to get there. Before he could even ask why, the pink-haired girl was gone.

With a quick thank-you, Sakura had decided not to linger about; what if Sasuke was in danger?! What if Itachi had already killed him?! What if – What if –

"Stop it!" She muttered.

Inner Sakura replied with a shudder and continued the what-ifs.

"Sakura...? What the hell are you doing here?!" Sasuke had heard her mutter at Inner Sakura. Shit.

"I..." Before she could stammer out a reply, Sasuke continued.

"Naruto's in another room! I know you wouldn't if I asked you to go back, so just come with me and don't reveal yourself. Even if I die."

Sakura melted ever so slightly when he locked gazes with her. Even without the Sharingan activated, his eyes seemed to be more midnight blue instead of black. Naturally, she nodded.

When Sasuke finally located Naruto, he was too late to stop anything, and whispered several instructions, but all of them hinted at concealment no matter what, in some shape or form.

And all of those left her mind, even when Naruto kept shaking her and the tall old guy(presumably Jiraiya) yelled at her about not intervening because of honor and other stuff. And only because Itachi looked so...so...different than she imagined.

Paler than Sasuke, of course, but he was beautiful—if a guy could be called beautiful—with those long lashes(which she could see from several feet away, and they were dark.). He looked like Sasuke, minus those...those lines under his eyes.

Given the situation, it was inappropriate for Inner Sakura to be positively swooning.

"S-Sakura-chan?! You look a little pale...!" But Naruto's hand was shrugged off.

Naruto's worry and Jiraiya's warning went unheeded.

Sasuke heard his name through the haze of pain and visions lingering on his retinas. Then it hit him: it was Sakura calling his name.

"N..no...d-d-d..on-n't..." Was all he managed before unconsciousness overtook him.

Only too late did Naruto realize exactly what was happening:

Sakura had, against better judgement, gone after Sasuke in a vain attempt to help.

Then Sasuke said something. Possibly a warning.

Jiraiya cursed his previous statement, having decided that Itachi's abilities were under-estimated.

During all this, the shark-nin(Naruto wasn't sure what he was doing here) had drained away Sakura's and Naruto's chakra. (At least, he assumed Sakura's chakra was drained with that weird, freaky sword)

And Sakura seemed to suddenly realize she was far from help.

By the time Naruto had digested all of this, Jiraiya had cast a strange jutsu that made the hallways look like frog insides, there was a black flame surrounding a hole in the froggish insides, an unconscious Sasuke, but no Sakura.


	2. Here

AN: :B Not only do I have an epic plot, these chapters are gunna be fairly decent, lengthwise. And to whoever told me they liked longer chapters(you know who you are): No offense, but short chapters can be just as good as long ones. Usually, they can be used as a cliffhanger before an extremely long one. And I don't consider 800 words to be all that short myself. xD

I have decided that Loophole(combined with Genshi) is the GOD of all ItaSaku fics. 8D

* * *

When Sakura came to, the first thing she did was open her eyes. Big mistake. The wave of nausea forced her eyes shut. After squinting them back open(more slowly), she found herself in a surprisingly well-furnished room, complete with complimentary fireplace.

Maybe she was in a genjutsu?

She tried to move her hand, but realized it would be nigh unto impossible as the feel of cold metal hinted at shackles. That in itself could prove the lack of genjutsu. But only one way to be sure...

Sakura allowed her eyes to close again and mentally felt for even the slightest amount of chakra. None. That was odd. She had left Konoha with a full supply of chakra, only using it to increase speed. She couldn't release the genjutsu, if there was any.

"So, you're awake. Don't bother with anything involving chakra. Those cuffs suppress it. Itachi-san figured you'd try to use some fancy chakra technique or something. He said he could tell you had good chakra control." The voice was gravelly and male.

Sakura's eyes snapped open a few seconds later. Uchiha...Itachi...in this place...

The thought sent shivers up her spine.

"Oh, yeah. Don't bother trying to sit up or anything. The technique Itachi-san used causes nausea and cramps, sometimes dizziness. It'll wear off in a few hours."

Sakura watched him retreat. His hair spiked up and was blue-grey. She could tell he had blue skin. Attached to the fellow's back was a ridiculously long sword, offset by the red and black Akatsuki cloak.

It was all very unnerving, considering his impeccable politeness.

-.-

When she woke up again, the metal cuffs were gone, replaced with identical bracelets on either wrist. If they could be called bracelets; they were made from metal, yes, but they were cumbersome and already felt heavy. But instead of completely masking the feel of chakra, they seemed to only block it. Sakura could feel the chakra, but couldn't access it.

The nausea was gone, too. So the blue guy was right about that.

When she tried to sit up, there was no dizziness, nausea, or any sudden pain. A better look at the bracelets revealed a probably sealed seam and a hinge. They looked more like disembodied handcuffs. Probably were, come to think of it.

When she finally stood, there were still none of the symptoms the blue man had named. So the effects of the technique wore off.

Good.

"You recovered faster than I would have expected, kunoichi."

Itachi's voice stopped her cold. It was soft and still missed the mark on her imaginings.

This was definitely a genjutsu.

-.-

"I have decided upon something, Kisame," the Uchiha murmured.

"Oh?"

"Let the pink-haired girl familiarize herself with the rules and her surroundings; then I shall set up my first test."

"What will your test be?" Kisame knew how much Itachi enjoyed cat-and-mouse-type games, often describing them as tests.

"One of cunning."

Kisame swore there was the slightest of smirks on Itachi's lips.

-.-

"Oi. Girl." The blue man was back; this time Sakura noticed that he had shark-like features.

"S-sakura." She whispered. "Call m-me...Sakura."

"...Well, 'Sakura', Itachi-san has given me orders to explain the rules, and give you a map of this building." The shark-man seemed to roll his eyes, then grinned. "And after you familiarize yourself with both, he would like to...test you."

Kisame took note of the sudden change in 'Sakura''s demeanor. It appeared the girl had been trying to keep up a slightly unruffled skin, which, it seems, is rather...flimsily constructed.

Then continued on.

"You see, the rules, there are three of them, are very simple. One; do not attempt to remove the chakra suppressors. Two; do not attempt to escape, as the suppressors have the ability to be tracked. Three; do not attempt to meddle around in mine or Itachi-san's stuff, we do not meddle around in yours. Fair enough?" The Shark-man grinned again.

Sakura shrugged, not sure what to make of the rules. The third one intrigued her, because the first two were fairly clear-cut. What would they mean by 'their stuff' and 'her stuff'? Just personal effects, or the entire place, and she was cornered into one room? Only they knew.

The shark-man paused a few moments, as if to let her memorize the rules. "This is a map of the ground floor of this complex. You will get two more maps, for each floor above the ground floor."

A single roll of parchment was tossed at her. With an effort, she caught it, if only just.

"When you get all three maps, Itachi-san himself will give you your test." And with that, the shark-man left.

-.-

Since the shark-man had given no indication of how much of the complex she was allowed to stay on, and her room had no window, Sakura had absolutely no plausible way of figuring out just where she was. If shark-man wanted things to be easy, he would have, of course, explicitly stated what floor she was on. Well, shark-man was only, it seemed, a messenger boy at present.

Sakura ran through the rules again.

No escape.

No removal of bracel—chakra suppressors.

But the third one seemed to have some significance. Perhaps they only meant she was allowed to use the bathroom facilities, stay in her room, and walk the hallways, not even tapping at the walls, doors, or floor, merely observing?

Perhaps they meant that she would be escorted to where the Akatsuki pair saw fit for her eyes, and given a limited amount of time.

Or, even, that she could go anywhere, but would be observed at all times.

It was a safe bet that one of those were correct.


	3. Delay

AN: O HAI, I UPDATED, Y/Y?? '3' Sorry for the overall shorness w/e. Don't really care, actually. Not even sure which chapter this is(two, right? DB;;)

LOLOLOLLLLLLLL I FAIL UTTERLY AT ANYTHING REMOTELY ACTION-Y.

* * *

Itachi wandered through the halls of his and Kisame's latest hideout, examining it. It was, to be honest, fairly impressive, as secret hideouts went. Gold-leafed fireplace in the main room, silver trim on the doorframes, mahogany bookshelves, leather-bound books, marble sinks and tiles in the bathrooms and kitchen, silken bed sheets, Persian rugs, and, interestingly, three floors. No basement. Perfect for carrying out all kinds of tests.

This pink-haired girl's first test had begun the moment Kisame reported back to him on her reactions. The first part of this test would be to figure out boundaries—where she could go, what she could touch, bedtime, wake-up time, all of those sorts of things.

If she would simply get up the gall to do the obvious...then the test would be passed, and a new one would take its place.

He had visited her twice now, and all he had learned was her name.

Haruno...Sakura.

-.-.-

Sakura hadn't really left her room, except for scheduled bathroom breaks and bath times, and once for a meal with the blue man and Itachi. And the blue man was fairly polite, although with a bloodthirsty streak. He kept mentioning that Itachi might let him kill her, and that was frightening.

And, while, in most cases, the sensible thing to do would be to ask about her boundaries and rules and where she was, there was the whole matter of stopping that stammering and blushing every time Itachi came by her room, asking her the oddest questions, expecting the oddest answers, and always asking if she had any questions.

She always said no.

It wasn't that she wanted to come off as stupid or dumb or any of those awful things, but that she was afraid she would ask the wrong questions and get punished as an answer. She had experimented with this concept of 'punishment' and concluded two things:

One; trying to remove the chakra suppressors would result in either a nasty electrical shock, or Itachi gliding serenely into the room and staring at her intently as she went about her usual business of sitting around and doing nothing, occasionally practicing taijutsu on a part of the wall or a bookshelf. She honestly preferred the electrical shock.

Two; trying to escape through the fireplace would result in, indefinitely, the chance to have a go at Itachi...and being thrown against the wall, along with nearly being choked to death by his manicured hand holding her there. Luckily, she had only done this once. And that was because Itachi warned that if she tried it again, she would be killed.

How the shark-man phrased it: "If you try it again, girl, to hell with the Kyuubi business, you're going to die. "

-.-

Itachi sighed as his fingers threaded along the spines of several old, dry books that lined a wall-length bookshelf. A slim pair of reading glasses dangled loosely from his other hand. He enjoyed reading, but it was making his eyesight worse. Soon he would need to get stronger glasses. Possibly prescription lenses.

It didn't help that Sharingan as well seemed to deteriorate his eyesight. Even deactivating them on the occasion that he wasn't in anything resembling combat wasn't aiding anymore.

He skimmed over a few titles before one caught his interest. The spine appeared to be newer than the books surrounding it, and looked to have been made within the last half-century or so. Itachi pulled it from its place, sat down in a chair, put on the glasses, and began to read.

-.-

Another meal.

Another meal.

And, still, another meal.

That was how Sakura had begun to keep track of the time. She figured she had been here, wherever that was, perhaps two weeks. Because fourteen multiplied by three was...forty-two. That was excluding the time before she begun to count the days.

She wondered what Naruto and Sasuke were doing...

The door silently swung open, and Itachi glided(that was really the only way she could describe his walk) in, serene as ever. That is, until his face was within viewing pleasure. There was the slightest narrowing of eyes, the slightest furrow of his brow.

'Oh, he's pissed, alright,' Inner Sakura muttered.

Pissed didn't even seem to describe the sudden emotion twisting his face, as Sakura was literally slammed into the nearest wall. Her vision erupted into stars and was edged with black. A sharp pain erupted along her spine, and exploded in her head. There was the taste of blood in her mouth.

"...You have failed the test," he said, the barely contained rage obvious. "Why did you fail the test?"

"I..." Sakura couldn't breathe. Itachi's hand was clamped around her neck. "I..."

Itachi's grip changed. Suddenly, Sakura's lungs were filled with air.

"I...Ididn'tknowhowtoaskwhatitwasyouwantedfrommesoIkindasortamaybetriedtostallfortimetoworkitout?!" All in one breath, too. Inner Sakura briefly applauded her for this feat.

--

When Sakura came to, she was neatly tucked in bed. Her clothes felt different (Inner Sakura: Holy shit, he wouldn't DARE to take advantage of me!!), her head throbbed, and her back would coalesce into needlepoints at every move. There was a short note near her.

"I will give you another test. This will be less about your intellect and more an assessment of your abilities. When you are healed, Sakura-san, the test shall begin."


	4. Skip

AN: what's up?

Man it's been awhile. I know that not many of the "original" reviewers or whatever might even look at this if it pops up in their inbox, but I really want to get back to this story.

That said, I've decided to give up on where the second chapter left off(I cannot for the life of me come up with anything remotely awesome like the idea I had forgotten), and skip forward a few months. And switch from the secret hide out to what the folks back in Konoha are doing.

Sorry for the wait,

Val.

- -

(_around a half month later)_

"Are you kidding me?! We have to find her!"

"What do you think we've been trying to do, Naruto?" Sasuke murmured.

"We're not trying hard enough, then!" Naruto's fist rattled the plates on Ichiraku's counter. It was only a hint as to how angry he was.

"Hey, Naruto, don't blame yourself. You had no way of knowing she had followed us in the first place," Kakashi interjected, turning a page in his obscene novel, Icha Icha Paradise. His mask covered up his expression.

"And you _did?_"

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying that you just didn't know, so it's not really your fault."

"Why aren't we looking for her ourselves, then?" Sasuke took another small bite of ramen.

Kakashi sighed and put his book into a pocket. "I believe it's because Tsunade is afraid that Naruto will do something stupid to jeopardize the mission. And because capturing Sakura is probably bait for Naruto."

"We should anyway."

"I'm with Sasuke for once!" Naruto pounded the counter again. "Let's find her!"

"Not so fast." Kakashi held up a hand.

"Come _on, _Kakashi-sensei!!"

"Yeah. We've been waiting around for awhile. If the ANBU was ever going to find her, they would have by now," Sasuke said.

"Hey, Sasuke has a point!"

"And you think we could do better, Naruto?" Kakashi muttered.

"Well...yeah?"

"Why?"

"Well, I mean, we know Sakura better than them, and we have some witnesses to what happened, so we know what direction they probably went in, ummm...." Naruto wondered why nobody had thought of it before.

"Let me finish. Since we know what direction they traveled in, rather than looking for some sort of clue, it would be easier for us to figure out where Ita—the Akatsuki went," Sasuke cut in on Naruto's behalf.

"Hmm."

"Well?"

"So, are we going or not?!"

Kakashi's visible eye curved in an amicable smile. "We'll see."

- -

Sakura stood in the middle of a training field, absolutely still. The only thing that moved was her pale pink hair in the autumn breeze. It was the only thing that dared to move. There were kunai half-buried in the dry dirt; the exact number could be counted on one hand.

Her eyes opened, revealing emerald green irises with the consistency of hard glass. That was the signal. A figure materialized out of thin air; he was several centimeters taller than she. His dark brown hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, and his Akatsuki cloak hung open. The red of Sharingan bled into his eyes. At a glance, his stance seemed relaxed, almost conversational. A closer look revealed the tension, the readiness for battle.

This was Itachi Uchiha.

Standing to the side, out of harm's way, was Kisame. His expression was keen; he hadn't had a chance recently to see the two spar. From what Itachi had told him, she was pretty good at using the environment and her speed in battle. She could be an asset to Akatsuki, given enough time.

Too bad their movements were almost too fast for him to follow. It was interesting to see a flurry of punches and kicks before they jumped to opposite ends of the field. Neither seemed to be exerting themselves...yet.

By the fourth round of "flurry-then-jump-back", Kisame had grown a bit bored of the whole affair. When would Itachi use some fancy genjutsu, or Sakura get out a few shuriken in between rounds? Something needed to happen soon. He didn't care if Sakura's pretty face got pounded into the dirt.

Then he saw it: Sakura formed a series of hand seals. The Sharingan rotated slowly. Neither opponent moved. Sakura collapsed into a heap. So he _had_ used some genjutsu in there. Huh.

Itachi picked up Sakura's prostrate form from the ground. He carried her to the door of their hideout. Pretty soon, they'd have to move to the next one. Supplies were getting scarce, and they ran the risk of being discovered up the longer that they were here.

He walked down the first hallway on the left, and entered the door at the end. Carefully setting her on the bed, he went around and renewed the seals on the fireplace. Couldn't have a repeat of _that_ happening.

- -

Tsunade slammed her open palm on the desk, cracking the wood. "No! I will not allow this!"

"They do have a point, though, don't you think?" Kakashi said, reading his favorite book. "Aren't you tired of searches coming up fruitless?"

"That's not the point. There's too much of a risk involved."

"Staying here could be riskier."

The newly christened Hokage sighed and rubbed her temples, blond hair falling over her face. "You have one week. After that, she will be presumed KIA."

"Very well." Kakashi snapped the book shut and exited through the window.


End file.
